MEET ETHAN
Quite a few people have asked me how I came up with the idea to use an electronic cutter to cut decorations for cake. This is where Ethan comes in. Almost 2 years ago, Jessie, my oldest daughter was expecting her third child. I had been with her with the first two, so I planned on being with her for number three. Her husband had been transferred to Omaha with his job, so Jeff and I had to make a two day trip from Louisiana to be with her when the baby arrived.
When we stopped the first night Jeff took Molly, our yellow lab puppy, out for a little walk. I turned on the TV to see if there was anything interesting to watch. The TV turned on to a station that was playing an infomercial. I had no interest in what was being advertised so I started to change the channel. I couldn't get the remote to change the channel, but while I was punching the different buttons, I started watching the show that was on. The ladies were cutting out some paper decorations with a machine called a Cricut. I knew Jessie had one of those machines and creates beautiful scrapbook albums. When the design was finished cutting, the lady removed it from the mat and showed a beautiful scroll design. As a cake decorator, my first thought was "Wouldn't that be beautiful on a wedding cake?" Now my full attention was on the TV show. I tried to see how the machine was cutting out the paper and wondered if it could cut gum paste.
The next morning I called Jessie and asked her if she thought her Cricut would cut gum paste. She said she did not think it would. I told her that I wanted to try with her small Cricut and if I ruined her machine I would buy her the new Expression. She readily agreed, thinking she was going to get a new machine out of the deal.
When we arrived at her house I gave her a hug, patted her belly and told Ethan we would see him in a few days and then asked her where her Cricut was. She had some powdered gum paste mix, so we made it and then began our first trial cut. It wasn't very successful, but I saw the potential. With a little bit more trial and error I got some letters to cut out and they looked pretty good.
Quite a few people have asked me how I came up with the idea to use an electronic cutter to cut decorations for cake. This is where Ethan comes in. Almost 2 years ago, Jessie, my oldest daughter was expecting her third child. I had been with her with the first two, so I planned on being with her for number three. Her husband had been transferred to Omaha with his job, so Jeff and I had to make a two day trip from Louisiana to be with her when the baby arrived.
When we stopped the first night Jeff took Molly, our yellow lab puppy, out for a little walk. I turned on the TV to see if there was anything interesting to watch. The TV turned on to a station that was playing an infomercial. I had no interest in what was being advertised so I started to change the channel. I couldn't get the remote to change the channel, but while I was punching the different buttons, I started watching the show that was on. The ladies were cutting out some paper decorations with a machine called a Cricut. I knew Jessie had one of those machines and creates beautiful scrapbook albums. When the design was finished cutting, the lady removed it from the mat and showed a beautiful scroll design. As a cake decorator, my first thought was "Wouldn't that be beautiful on a wedding cake?" Now my full attention was on the TV show. I tried to see how the machine was cutting out the paper and wondered if it could cut gum paste.
The next morning I called Jessie and asked her if she thought her Cricut would cut gum paste. She said she did not think it would. I told her that I wanted to try with her small Cricut and if I ruined her machine I would buy her the new Expression. She readily agreed, thinking she was going to get a new machine out of the deal.
When we arrived at her house I gave her a hug, patted her belly and told Ethan we would see him in a few days and then asked her where her Cricut was. She had some powdered gum paste mix, so we made it and then began our first trial cut. It wasn't very successful, but I saw the potential. With a little bit more trial and error I got some letters to cut out and they looked pretty good.
Ethan was born and we spent Thanksgiving with Jessie and her family. I bought an Expression at Wal Mart for $188.00 and a couple of cartridges that looked like they had designs I could use on cakes. I had several wedding cakes coming up so I was able to really put this new technique to the test. The cakes I made were beautiful and I knew this was going to change the way cakes would be decorated in the future.
So if it were not for traveling to welcome Ethan into the world, I would not have seen the infomercial that sparked my interest in the Cricut. Thank you Ethan.
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